Chapter 3
THREE
Elias’ hands damn near shook as he unlocked his front door. He barely registered the early summer night sounds around them—crickets chirping, the ping of moths hitting the porch light overhead, the ticking of his truck and Wren’s car in the drive as they cooled down after they sped through the winding foothills to his house. No—his senses hyper-focused down to the woman standing just behind him—the heat radiating from her body, the sound of her breath coming in excited pants, the salty-sweet smell of her skin mingling with the earthy forest around them.
Elias swore he felt a spot on his back grew warmer just before she touched him there. Her hand slid up his back to his shoulder, the one he’d slung his scrubs top over. Suddenly, trying to get into his house was too much of a bother. He contemplated picking her up and carrying her around to the backyard and the hammock strung up under the trees where he sometimes slept on hot summer nights.
Wren slid her hand down from his shoulder to his hand, which was definitely shaking now. She steadied it.
Dear God in Heaven .
Elias couldn’t stop himself. He turned and pulled Wren against him. Her lips parted in surprise. He tangled his fingers in her hair. So soft and silky . Elias tilted his head and leaned in to claim her mouth. When their lips met, he felt the same jolt of electricity he experienced the first time he touched her. And when she made a surprised little sound as he parted her lips with his tongue, his cock jumped eagerly. He turned with her in his arms and pressed her up against the door. Wren hooked one of her legs around his waist and he slid his hand down her back, over her ass, and gripped her leg. Just in time—he felt her other leg wobble as if she’d gone weak in the knees.
Oh yeah . Bringing her home had been a great idea.
Thank God he didn’t have any close neighbors or they’d be watching a free show. All the same, Elias stopped kissing Wren long enough to unlock the door and get her inside.
But when the door opened finally, an unwelcome sight greeted Elias.
“Dammit. You’re kidding me. What are you two doing here?”
Chuck and Penny only stared back up at him, Chuck looking guilty and Penny looking proud of herself.
Wren dropped to her knees—and not in the way Elias was imagining her a minute ago.
“Aw! Come here, you cuties.”
Penny, being the shameless and assertive little Jack Russel Terrier she was, practically tripped Chuck on her way to Wren’s outstretched hand. The big mutt was used to it. He wagged his entire body, not just his long tail, and looked back up at Elias to see if all was forgiven—which it most certainly was not. His floppy ears dropped as Chuck decided to press his luck again with the newcomer already enchanted by Penny. Wren let go of her tote and reached out to Chuck.
“Aren’t you a pretty boy with your tiger stripes?” She ran her hand over Chuck’s brindled coat. The dog’s eyes nearly rolled back in his head and Elias knew the feeling.
So much for taking Wren straight to bed. Little cockblockers .
“Sorry about this. They had been stowed away in their room,” Elias said as he draped his scrubs top over the back of the nearest chair. “But Penny is an evil genius who has yet to be stumped by a locked door when she truly wants out. Then again, sometimes the neighbor kid who watches them when I’m working forgets to lock the door.”
“Oh, I don’t mind,” Wren said without bothering to look up. She turned her attention from Chuck back to Penny. “Did he call you an evil genius? Who’s a good evil genius? That’s you! You’re the good evil genius.”
Elias should have been annoyed at this turn of events. The last woman he brought home was the last woman he brought home precisely because of his dogs. Penny had pulled off a great escape that time, too, and when she and Chuck greeted Elias and his date at the door, Shayla pretended to be amused. But it was clear the date—and the budding relationship—was over. Wren was the total opposite, and God help him, Elias felt an even stronger connection to her.
However, this date might be over anyway . Wren didn’t look like she was about to stop petting his dogs anytime soon.
And then, as if she’d heard his thoughts—damn, maybe he’d given it away with his body language—she stopped scratching their heads and stood up. Some of the sparkle had left her eyes and he immediately hated himself for it.
“Sorry. I love dogs, and these two are adorable.” She clutched the handles of her tote bag and looked down as if he was about to scold her for insta-loving his dogs. Now that—her embarrassment—he didn’t like.
“Adorable miscreants, you mean. Is it all right if I get them back into their room? Otherwise, they can get underfoot when I have company.”
Her gaze snapped up to his. “Oh. Yeah, sure.” He tried not to stare at the blush starting at her cleavage and climbing her throat as he wondered what caused?—
Oh, yeah. Company. Shit. Now she thinks I bring women back here all the time and take them straight to bed .
Of course, that was exactly the plan with Wren. Straight to bed, and if she wanted to leave right after, no problem and probably for the best.
Except she liked his dogs. Loved dogs in general, actually. Like he did.
A little voice in his head protested at the thought of her leaving right after sex. That voice was not part of his plan. No way did Elias want to get serious with anyone. He was having way too much fun playing the field.
Frustrated with himself, he snapped his fingers and got the dogs’ attention. Chuck went back to looking like he’d gotten caught murdering someone and Penny’s expression was nothing but Do you mind? I was busy soaking up my well-earned praise .
“Come on, you two.” He gave Wren an apologetic smile. “It might take a minute to get them situated. I’m going to let them out back for a minute and then try to figure out how Penny got the door open this time. Kitchen’s that way.” He pointed. “Make yourself at home. Grab a beer if you want.”
“It’s not a forest, is it?” she asked with a hopeful little smile.
“Forest?”
“Forest-flavored. The beer, I mean.” She gestured toward the kitchen as she sucked in her lower lip.
“Oh, yeah, right. The pitcher of beer Waylon ordered.”
“I was going for a call-back from earlier but flubbed it I guess.” The confidence she’d shown at Cocks and Strippers all the way up to standing on Elias’ porch faded a little more.
Shit .
Elias stopped trying to herd the dogs and looked straight up at the ceiling. He jumped like he was trying to catch a football.
“What exactly are you doing?”
“Oh, that’s just me trying to catch the perfectly good call-back you lobbed at my head instead of totally missing it.” He looked behind him. “Nope, there it goes. They sometimes do that, just bounce right off my thick skull and go on their way.”
When he turned back around, there was that smile and sparkle in her eyes. He just stared for what felt like a full minute, feeling a little lost in her gaze.
“Gonna just get these two squared away,” he finally said.
“Wait. What are their names?”
“Oh, yeah, I didn’t tell you. The big guy is Chucklehead—Chuck for short—and the evil genius is Penny.”
Wren grinned. “Good night, Chuck and Penny.” She waved her fingers at them and they wagged their tails. Penny threw a look over her shoulder at Elias and started trotting back to Wren.
“Oops.” Wren giggled and stooped as the little dog picked up speed, tail going a hundred miles an hour. “I made a tactical error.”
“Naw. Penny’s been looking for another loyal minion to hire. She’s going to try and lowball you, but keep in mind she’s worth billions in kibble stock and crypto.” He kept a straight face.
“Oh really?” Wren’s gaze flashed to his, and now he recognized the smile she’d given him back when she was dressed in nothing more than a sheet. Ah, the good old days . “How much is she paying you so I can ask for a fair wage?”
“You’re better off talking to the Chucklehead about that. Don’t let his name fool you. The Chuckster’s a much better negotiator than me. I have to pay for Penny’s food and toys as part of my deal, but he talked her into stock options, a 401K, and dental.”
Wren’s lips twitched as she quickly looked away, fighting her laughter. She gave Penny a good scratch behind the ears and stood up.
“Go on, evil genius,” she told Penny. The little dog tilted her head, unable to comprehend how Wren could defy her every wish, before she turned and trotted back to Elias and Chuck.
“I’ll just be a minute.”
“Sure,” Wren said, sounding a little distracted as she looked around his place.
“Come on, guys.” At least they were smart enough to know they were done getting away with anything tonight and headed straight for their room. The dogs had the run of the house when Elias was home. When he had to leave for work or went out with Waylon, they stayed in a spare bedroom kitted out with doggie beds, toys, a water station, a TV, and a doggie door in a regular door that opened to a fenced-in kennel run.
Elias followed the dogs outside, contemplating the woman who waited in his living room. This was not how he’d expected or wanted the night to go. His dates never made him stop and think. They were all about fun—a short chase, then a quick, good time for both of them and back on their way. They didn’t meet and fall in love with his dogs. They didn’t make him laugh either, or think about them nonstop for days.
Once he got Penny and Chuck back inside and settled, he went back to the living room.
Wren was gone.
She faked liking my dogs, just like Shayla . A weird mixture of anger, hurt, and disappointment washed over Elias, far worse than what he’d felt when Shayla ghosted him. He shook his head. How could I be so stupid? I thought she was different. I thought she might be someone special. I thought she ? —
“Sorry, I needed the restroom,” she said from somewhere behind him. He whipped around until he faced her, standing in the opposite hallway leading to his bedroom and the guest bathroom.
Wren took one look at the expression on his face and stepped backward as her smile turned to alarm. “I promise I wasn’t snooping.”
Elias quickly smiled, putting all the reassurance he could into it. “No, sorry, you’re fine. You just startled me. My fault. I should have told you where the bathroom was.” He blew out a breath. How did she manage to keep him so off-balance and flustered?
Her gaze flicked to the front door. “Maybe I should go. I have work early tomorrow.”
“Please, I didn’t mean to look upset. I just thought…”
“That I’d sneaked out without saying goodbye?” Wren’s shoulders relaxed. A smile played at her lips again.
“Yes. Exactly.”
“And it upset you that much?” She looked at him quizzically.
“Yes.” He was surprised at his reaction, but it was the truth. He found he was also surprised she’d stuck around after Penny and Chuck’s antics.
Wren nodded and walked toward him, her gaze fixed on his, studying him like no woman ever had. God, she was intense . She stopped inches from him. “Some other woman did that to you, I bet. Met the dogs, and poof! Out of your life.”
Elias’ head jerked back. “Did the acupuncture give you psychic powers?”
She grinned. “No. I’m just really good at reading people. I do it for a living.”
“Right. Photography.”
She nodded. “I have to get my subjects to open up. Show their true selves to the camera. Well, at least that’s my goal, but it wasn’t always what my subjects wanted. It was hard with actors. They put up a front like no one else. So, I had to be good at reading their moods from the second they walked into the studio.”
Wren reached up and touched a spot just behind his left ear. Then slowly—achingly slowly—ran it down the side of his neck to just below his Adam’s apple. He heard someone groan and was pretty sure it was himself. “I had to figure out how to get them to relax and drop the front.”
“I wasn’t putting up a front,” Elias insisted.
“No, you weren’t,” Wren purred. “But, I misread you for a second. Kinda rare for me. You…throw me off my game.” Her cheeks flushed pink as she looked away for a moment.
“Well, as long as we’re being honest, you throw me off mine, too.” Elias covered Wren’s hand with his and pressed it against his chest.
“I do?”
“Absolutely.”
“But, you were so professional the other day.”
“I was trying my damnedest to stay professional and not sweep you off your feet and carry you to the back of the ambo for a thorough examination.”
Wren snickered, then her face went completely neutral. But her eyes continued to sparkle with humor and mischief and he felt his chest tighten.
“That’s not standard protocol?” she asked.
But Elias wasn’t trying to make Wren crack up, not this time, and he wasn’t expecting her to make him laugh either. He was being dead serious for once.
“It’s not standard protocol for me.” He glanced around the room. “Taking someone back to my home isn’t, either.”
Her eyes widened the tiniest bit with understanding. “Sorry some idiot didn’t like Penny and Chuck. I think they’re adorable.” Wren’s voice sounded throaty.
“I think you’re adorable.”
She gave him a wicked smile. “How adorable?”
“Let me show you.”